Upper Saranac Lake is the largest of the three Saranac Lakes and the most remote-feeling. The shoreline is dotted with the kind of rustic Adirondack camps — log lodges, boathouses, mile-long private docks — that the wealthy industrialists of the late nineteenth century built as a forest counterpart to their Newport mansions. Most are still privately held but a few have become inns.
For visitors, the lake is best experienced by boat. Canoe and kayak put-ins are at multiple state-managed sites. The 90-Miler canoe race traces a historic Adirondack route through Upper Saranac and the neighbouring lakes each September; the route can be paddled at a more leisurely pace any time. The lake also offers some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the region. Public swimming is available at the state campground on the southwestern shore.